Clamps used to support tubing, ducts, and lines associated with hydraulic, fuel, and other systems have been extensively used in environments in which they are subjected to aircraft fuel or other corrosive and potentially hazardous materials. One example is the use of hydraulic clamps to support the hydraulic tubing within aircraft wings. Aircraft fuel tanks provide unique challenges to common procedures like clamping tubes and cables. The potential for fuel tank ignition is particularly problematic, and as a result, all devices utilized in an aircraft fuel tank must meet stringent federal aviation safety requirements to ensure that metal objects within the fuel tank are properly grounded and/or isolated.
Conventional clamps used within aircraft fuel tanks are made from conductive materials and may utilize rubber cushions between the clamp body and the systems tube or line. During a lightning event, lightning currents will have a tendency to travel on the path of least resistance. The conductive tubing, ducts, or lines of the various aircraft systems provide a path of least resistance. The clamps securing the conductive tubing, ducts, or lines are grounded to metal systems brackets within the aircraft wing to dissipate the induced currents.
Traditionally, large commercial aircraft wings have not been manufactured using composite materials to any substantial extent. However, current technology and other factors are allowing aircraft wing skins to be largely manufactured using composite materials. The use of composite material for the wing skins can result in a less conductive ground path then traditional aluminum wing skins. Composite wing skins can also result in a lower level of electromagnetic shielding versus aluminum-skinned wings, which can lead to larger induced electrical voltages in internal systems components. Additionally, the metal systems brackets traditionally used as ground paths for metal clamps may not exist. Another issue arising from the use of composite wing structures is that the structural flexibility associated with a composite wing may lead to a greater amount of axial hydraulic tube movement than typically exists with tubes in conventional aircraft wings. This increased axial movement is not accommodated by the rubber cushions used with conventional hydraulic clamps.
It is with respect to these considerations and others that the disclosure made herein is presented.